Over a million homes in France lost electricity, from Brittany to the Massif Central. UKww (UK Weatherworld) has ascertained this relatively rare Shapiro/Keyser type storm produced a 'sting jet' scenario, which likely occured over the Bay of Biscay, before it reached the coast, nevertheless winds reached 90-100mph here in places. Pressure rose as much as 22mb in 3 hours across N Spain, behind the storm, again similar to the amount seen in the south of England during the 1987 storm as well as storm Lothar which hit France in December 1999.  Anecdotally, there is some evidence that severe depressions of this type taking a notably southerly track are becoming more commonplace in the last few decades.

March 4th Some very cold nights in Highland Scotland currently. Braemar fell to -18.6C overnight , not far off the all time daily record.

March 6th The colder weather sank south; as high pressure dominated to the north a bitter easterly wind developed here in exposed spots; however in the more sheltered spots where the wind fell out overnight it was very cold; Santon Downham (Suffolk) fell to -9C. On the grass the temperature fell to -14C as far south as Farnborough (Hants)  and Charlwood (Surrey)   

March 14th Half way through March and what a dry month it has been so far. There has been virtually no rain at all in many places yet with the average England & Wales rainfall just 9% of what it should normally be. It has been quite cold too with temperatures 3C below average, more so by night and also overall very sunny.  As a milder Swly develops by midweek though the frosts should disapear with a balmy 15-16C perhaps possible in places in the east by Thursday. 

March 16th Has Spring finally arrived? St James Park in Central London & east Malling in Kent reached 14.1C yesterday but the next few days may see up to 15-16C in places still. In the stronger sunshine now it should even feel relatively  'warm'.

March 18th Weybourne (Norfolk) recorded a max of 18.0C and Northolt in NW London recorded a maximum of 17.9C today, which is the kind of  temperature that would be expected in late May. Its quite likely this will be the warmest temperature in the UK this month.

March 25th A warm day in Coninsby and Leeming, (Yorks) as 16.4C was reached. However, all change from the 29th as colder unsettled weather returns with a rather wintry looking Easter period on the cards. So much for March 'going out like a lamb'!

March 31st A cold end to the month as march in fact goes out like a lion!  A deep low peaked in depth at 976mb over the central UK then moved slowly ENE. Strong NW and WNW affected the western side and Aberporth saw 68mph, the Needles (Isle of Wight) 75mph, Land End  saw 67mph. Cold air ran down the west side with snow  reported as far south as the SW Moors with sleet on Salisbury Plain. The north was worse though with upland Wales, the Lake District , N Ireland and Scotland seeeing a lot of snow. The snow brought transport and power disruption to Northern Ireland overnight with reports of 30cm or more in places above 200m and the situation was similar in Highland Scotland. Motorists were rescued from stranded vehicles on the Glenshane Pass in N Ireland with around 50,000 homes left without power in the area. The winds were so strong it wasnt possible to climb the poles to reconnect electricity services for some time. In Scotland, several schoolchildren were injured in a coach crash caused by the bad weather on the A73 at Wiston, South Lanarkshire with many roads closed by snow, including the A1 at Haddington and the A9 at Drumochter (Highlands) and Blair Atholl (Perthshire). About 19,000 homes were also without power here too. 

Overall though March was a fairly sunny month with England and Wales seeing about 125% of the average hourly amount. Temperatures were near enough exactly average though with rainfall around 90%..